Man who pushed elderly Fil-Am into BART train misses court appearance

Corazon Dandan / Photo from Dr. Alvin Dandan

SAN FRANCISCO – The man charged with murder after allegedly pushing Filipino American Corazon Dandan into a BART train last week failed to appear at his arraignment Monday as he was confined in a hospital.

The Monday arraignment was set to continue on Tuesday, but the suspect – Trevor Belmont, 49, also known as Hoak Taing – remained at a medical facility for mental health evaluation, according to the San Francisco public defender’s office.

Belmont, 49, has been charged with murder and elder abuse after he allegedly pushed Dandan into the path of a Millbrae-bound train around 11:06 p.m. on Monday.

The Daly City resident, who fell onto the platform and sustained severe head injuries, was rushed to the San Francisco General Hospital, where she later died.

Dandan rode the BART train every day to her job at a hotel in downtown San Francisco, where she had worked as a telephone operator for 40 years, according to her nephew, Dr. Alvin Dandan, a physician in St. Louis. She was returning home from work when she was attacked on the train platform.

“She would want to be remembered as a very beautiful, independent, hardworking American woman. Immigrant if you may – who is basically the life of the party and very kind and generous,” Dr. Dandan told ABC7.

Dr. Dandan said his aunt helped raise him and put him through medical school.

Dandan’s co-workers, who started a GoFundMe to help cover her burial expenses, described her as “a cherished and beloved member of our team whose unwavering kindness and dedication has been a pillar of our workplace for decades.”

A funeral mass for Dandan has been scheduled on July 12 at 11 a.m. at Saint Agustin Church, 3700 Callan Blvd., South San Francisco.

Viewing will be on July 11, 4 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. at Newall Chapel at the Cypress Lawn Funeral Home, 1370 El Camino Real, Colma.